Saturday, August 28, 2010

One of Japan's official Three Great Gardens of the archipelago and it means "Garden of Pleasure After", a reference to a famous Confucian quote stating that a wise ruler must attend to his subjects' needs first and only then attend to his own.

Entering through the South Gate, one can see a giant lawn, crisscrossed with wide paths and the occasional teahouse, also waterfalls, tiny shrines, miniature maple forests, a lotus pond, even a greenhouse filled with orchids and cacti.

Beautiful too across the Moon-Viewing Bridge (Tsukimi-kyo) is the Okayama Castle.

Then, Japanese TVs' and newspapers interviewed the RTL's Correspondent after this visit...

Friday, August 27, 2010

Japan removed the secrecy behind death penalty executions, in Japan by hanging, with the opening today of Tokyo's main gallows to initiate more public awareness about capital punishment carried out extremely secretly in the country. Japan, along with the United States continue death penalty in spite of repeated requests of the European Union to ban the death penalty. In the past, numerous cases of judicial errors have been committed in both countries Japan and the United States, some cases after decades spent behind the death corridor waiting in Japan by Court detainees.

Executions in Japan are carried out by hanging, the condemned being informed a few hours before the sentence to be executed. The family not being allowed to be warned or contacts prior to the execution.

The media tour at the Tokyo Detention Centre came a month after Justice Minister Keiko Chiba who in the past was an opponent of capital punishment, approved last months the hangings of two convicted of murder. Even the exact location of the execution site is a secret. The reporters who were invited were taken on a bus with curtains closed so that the location couldn't be identified due to "security reasons".

During the 30 minute visit, reporters entered the five rooms of the chamber, such as the execution room equipped with a trap foot-plate and a pulley to hang death row inmates and the so-called "button room" equipped with three buttons to operate the trap foot-plate.

"The ministry has rarely opened execution chambers, other than inspections by lawmakers, saying, "It is not appropriate to open the chambers to the public as they are solemn places." The latest move is expected to open a crack in breaking the secrecy surrounding Japan's capital punishment system and to stir demand for further information disclosure over the death penalty, such as how to pick up death row inmates to hang and how to treat them in their daily lives."

Three other rooms that were shown include the prayer room where prison chaplains talk to an inmate before execution and the inmates can leave a will, a room where the detention house chief officially notifies an inmate of the execution, and one where prosecutors and the detention house chief witness the hanging.

The ministry, however, did not show the rope for hanging an inmate and the space to collect the hanged body of the inmate.

Click the arrow to watch the vdo

Japanese TV news programs showed footage from the inspection on Friday, including the execution room, where a red square marked the trapdoor where the condemned stands. The tour was led to a room decorated with a Buddha statue before reaching the death chamber, separated by a curtain. The hanging rope was removed from the ceiling-mounted pulley and the trapdoor was closed. TV footage showed a small room next to the chamber where three executioners simultaneously push a button so none knows who activated the trapdoor.

"Minister Chiba said she still supports abolishing capital punishment, and as a way to spur public debate, ordered that journalists be given a tour of the facilities, which Japanese press said was the first since at least the end of World War II. She also promised to create a ministry panel to discuss the death penalty, including whether it should be stopped."

Last week, a poll revealed that 75.9 per cent of the public supports capital punishment. The poll comes on the heels of two executions in late July, the first time the death penalty was used since the Democratic Party assumed power in September 2009.

Foreign media were generally barred from the visit while the Ministry of Justice gave no clear explanation of the motives behind foreign media discrimination...

Monday, August 23, 2010

The Ogasawara Islands were known to the Edo period in the name of Bonin Islands ("The Islands without people") Claimed by Japan to England in 1875 and placed under the prefecture of Tokyo in 1880. The Japanese fishermen and sulfur miners arrived in 1887, Japan annexed the islands in 1891. Occupied by Allied forces during the Second World War, the islands were placed under the administration of the United States from 1945 until 1968 and then returned to Japan.

The Bonin - Ogasawara Islands are an archipelago of 30 tropical islands. Administratively, they are part of Ogasawara Municipality (mura) of Ogasawara Sub-prefecture, under the governance of Tokyo. The total area of the islands is 73 square kilometers with a population of 3000.

Hahajima-meguro

Covered with subtropical tall trees, these luxuriant and tranquil islands of Ogasawara are a natural treasury. Among precious species of animals there is Hahajima-meguro, a bird found only in Hahajima. The Ogasawara volcanic islands are surrounded by magic crystal blue - green waters, and there we can swim with dolphins... and THIS IS a unique blissful experience, very accessible.

Hahajima means Mother Island, it is the second-largest island of the Ogasawara Island. It is about 21 km² in area. The highest points are Mt. Chibusa (Chibusa-yama), approximately 462m, and Mt. Sakaigatake (Sakaigatake), 443m. The largest island of the group, Chichi-jima ("Father Island") is approximately 50-km to the North.

The Hahajima Maru runs between Chichijima and Hahajima, the main islands of Ogasawara.

✍✍✍ Yes. and there is a wire report in English from the Xinhua agency published Monday 08/23/10. 'China still behind Japan economically', by Zhang Ming http://bit.ly/dc7iwk

"... However, China's population is six to seven times that of Japan, indicating that the Chinese market has far more potential than Japan. With its vast territory and fruitful resources, China also has more space for industrial transfer and higher capability for economic self-support. China's advantage over Japan is also presented in growth rate, demographic age structure and policy leeway. China's growth rate is expected to average 7 percent in the next decade, compared with Japan's 2 percent. China can still enjoy the demographic dividend until 2015, while Japan faces more severe aging problems..."